Student REU Experiences

Several MC
engineering students are participating in
prestigious REU programs across the nation this
summer. The Research Experiences for
Undergraduates (REU) program supports active
research participation by undergraduate students
in any of the areas of research funded by the
National Science Foundation. REU projects
involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing
research programs or in research projects
specifically designed for the REU.

NSF funds a
large number of research opportunities for
undergraduate students through its REU Sites
program. An REU Site consists of a group of ten
or so undergraduates who work in the research
programs of the host institution. Each student
is associated with a specific research project,
where he/she works closely with the faculty and
other researchers. Students are granted stipends
and, in many cases, assistance with housing and
travel.

Solomon
Adera majored in aerospace engineering at MC and transferred to Georgia
Institute of Technology in January 2008, to
pursue a BS in mechanical engineering. He has
accepted an REU at Texas A&M University this
summer. Solomon will be working on a project in
the Turbomachinery Lab sponsored by NASA Glenn
Research Center (http://reumicro.tamu.edu/project/project08.html).
The photo shows Solomon setting up a
Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) machine to
perform experiments in Minimum Quantity
Lubrication (MQL) with the objective of
maximizing the tool life to significantly
decrease cost of production.

Liliane Nguetsapis an
electrical engineering major and has been
accepted into the University of Maryland College
Park MERIT Biosystems Internships for Engineers
(BIEN) summer research program (http://www.ece.umd.edu/merit/08_projects.html).
She working in the Micro-Electro-Mechanical
System (MEMS) Sensors and Actuators Lab (MSAL)
led by Prof. Reza Ghodssi. The research project
entitled Nanostructured Nickel-Zinc
Microbatteries Using Tobacco Mosaic Virus is
investigating novel approaches for the
development of micro-batteries based on the well
studied Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV). Liliane
will transfer to UMCP this fall to pursue a BS
in electrical engineering.

Semme Yilma
is pursuing a civil engineering degree and has
been selected for a Summer Undergraduate
Research Fellowship (SURF) with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
He will work in the Building and Fire Research
Laboratory (BFRL) at NIST this summer (http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/info/surf/surf.htm).
Semme’s project involves developing a computer
simulation model of a loaded reinforced concrete
block in order to understand what happened in
the actual experiments that were previously
conducted. He was also offered REUs by
University of Maryland College Park and the
University of Notre Dame, the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst, Cornell University, and
University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Semme will transfer to the University of
Maryland College Park to continue his studies as
a junior in the A. James Clark School of
Engineering.